"T.I.A., This...Is...Africa". Leonardo DiCaprio's voice sifts into my brain via the in-flight entertainment headphones as I struggle to stay awake. It's not that Blood Diamond is a slow, dull movie, far from it, but the combination of an early morning flight and a restless night's sleep were conspiring against me. Despite my rapid progression towards dreams of FA Cup winning goals and the like, this particular quote manages to weave it's way into my sparse remaining consciousness, and I remember thinking "I'm sure Africa can't be that different really". I have rarely been simultaneously so right and so wrong.
Upon arrival at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International airport I am taken to the hotel that I booked prior to departure through the ever reliable universitiesnet.com (cashback please Lionel). As I enter the elevator at the rather shabby looking hotel I am joined by a mzungu in her 60s accompanied by a local guy who can't be a day over 21. As they exit the elevator together, the hourly room rate that I heard discussed at reception while checking in begins to make more sense. Upon seeing the room I decide that I have chosen to stay in one of Nairobi's seediest hotels and decide to go straight to bed. The next day on the shuttle bus to Arusha I am told that the hotel I stayed at is considered to be "one of the better ones in Nairobi. TIA indeed.
The shuttle from Nairobi to Arusha takes five and a half hours, most of which I spent trying to pick up a few basic Swahili phrases from my LP. Upon arrival in Arusha, I am greeted by my host father, and also headmaster at the local school I will be teaching at, Mr Sam Kironde. Sam is a 30 year old Ugandan who has been living in Arusha for the past five years. He finds my attempts at Swahili a source of great entertainment and I know within minutes that we are going to get on fine.
We jump in a taxi and set off for 'home' (a 3-bed family house situated 10 minutes by car/bus from the centre of town). The house has everything you would expect of a house in the UK with the exception hot water. The family I am living with consists of Sam, his wife Ruth, their two daughters, Lisa (14) and Linda (2), and their housegirl Angelina, all of whom are exceptionally friendly.
Following a couple of days of orientation I started my voluntary work. The school where I am supposed to be teaching is still on Easter break, so instead I have been helping with another programme teaching English to street kids, and also running an adult English literacy class. All quite daunting considering I have never taught before, but it's only 3 hours a day so better than being thrown in at the deep end with full days of school teaching. I still have that challenge to look forward to...
Arusha is a beautiful place. The town sits in the lush countryside near the foot of Mt Meru (TZ's 2nd highest mountain after Kili) and has some stunning scenery. It's within spitting distance of Kilimanjaro, the Serengeti, Ngorogoro Conservation Area, and the homelands of the Maasai Mara, and is therefore a major tourism centre. It is also the location of the UN's Rwanda genocide tribunal. These facts mean that there is a large population of Westerners/Nzungus (compared to the rest of Tanzania at least).
I have met quite a few other volunteers already, and had a big party and night out on Thursday. Many7 packets of the local spirit Kunyagi (which is a type of gin unfortunately) was imbibed and a lot of what else happened is blurry to say the least. Teaching a group of 7 and 8 year olds the next morning after dancing away till 4am the night before was an interesting experience. Definitely not recommended as a hangover cure...
Anyway, I think I've definitely bored you all enough for update 1 so will leave it there. I hope you're all well and hope to hear from some of you soon.
Baadaye,
Dom
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